The Nerves register barely a blip in time, releasing only a four-song self-titled EP in 1976, but in that brief time, that trio consisting of Jack Lee, Peter Case and Paul Collins produced some work that would have a much larger impact, propelling a resurgence of power pop on the charts. All three members had an impact following their breakup. The Jack Lee composition, “Hanging on the Telephone,” is the Nerves song that lives on, being covered by Blondie (video) two years later (and more recently by Cat Power for a Cingular commercial). Peter Case would go on to form The Plimsouls, and Paul Collins would form The Beat; along with The Knack, these bands took what The Nerves had started in LA and elevated it further. One Way Ticket (on Alive Records) is the first full length from the band, taking the four songs from the EP — “Hanging on the Telephone” (Lee,) “When You Find Out” (Case,) “Give Me Some Time” (Lee), and “Working Too Hard” (Collins) — and adds the Peter Case song “One Way Ticket,” along with a song from the shorter lived Breakaways (“Walking out on Love” — Case and Collins) and other unreleased tracks, demos and live recordings. It’s a great document to a band just a couple years ahead of it’s time — a band who combined the melody of the Beatles along with the energy of the burgeoning punk movement. There was little in the way of indie labels, DIY was too expensive and major labels weren’t quite ready, so we can only wonder what might have been if they’d been able to stick together for just a couple more years.

The Toledo OH five-piece The Pillbugs are getting special mention here in part due to the power pop angle I’m going for, but also because bassist/vocalist Mark Kelley lost his battle with lung cancer earlier this year, so the album, Everybody Wants a Way Out is an especially bittersweet collection of psychedelic power pop songs. From the opening strands of the majestic “Life as it Happens” all the way uplifting and trippy closer “North of Reality,” a song featuring the post-humous Kelly on vocals, it’s an album that takes inspiration from the Beatles circa Revolver to Magical Mystery Tour. It can seem awfully derivative, and the middle gets dragged down a bit with some questionable songs, but it’s nonetheless a well done album for the genre.